The FCC Wants Our Public Property. We’re Saying No.

["DAVID FARBER" <dfarber () me com>]

> https://medium.com/@communications.doitt.nyc.gov/the-fcc-wants-our-public-property-were-saying-no-a029cc544c28
>
> The FCC Wants Our Public Property. We’re Saying No.
>
> By Samir Saini, New York City Chief Information Officer and Commissioner, Department of Information Technology & 
> Telecommunications
>
> Nyc DoITTSep 25
> The Federal Communications Commission is taking a vote tomorrow to give billion-dollar telecom companies control of 
> the city’s most crucial piece of public infrastructure: the light pole. New York City stands with cities across the 
> country united in opposing this Order that would have extremely damaging consequences for every American municipality.
>
>
> Net Neutrality. Internet Privacy. Sound familiar? Probably. In the eighteen months since Federal Communications 
> Commission Chairman Ajit Pai was appointed, urgent and noisy battles erupted around these topics, conscripting 
> millions of Americans into the fight against the FCC’s vaporization of reasonable rules designed to protect them.
>
> Lurking in the shadows of these well-publicized battles lies yet another rule on the brink of evisceration by the FCC 
> — one that has enormous potential to affect the lives of millions of Americans.
>
> It’s the rule of local control.
>
> This is the common-sense policy that for decades has empowered American municipalities — from our largest cities to 
> the smallest towns — to ensure the spread of wireless service throughout our communities. In New York City, we use 
> this local authority to steadily offer access to thousands of light poles to companies that install technology for 
> carriers such as AT&T and Verizon. This can help improve wireless internet service, and sets the stage for superfast 
> 5G deployment — and retains poles for our own public safety, traffic control, and other essential systems.
>
> All across the country, local authority works. It empowers cities to protect public property, dramatically expand 
> wireless coverage, guarantee safety and aesthetic protections for their streets, and bring in pole rental revenue 
> that helps defray costs for first responders, schools, and more. Meanwhile, telecommunications companies densify 
> their network, expand their footprint, and grow their revenue. It’s a win-win.
>
> But on Wednesday, the FCC may try to dismantle this balanced system, handing taxpayer-owned assets over to 
> multi-billion dollar telecommunications companies, and encouraging them to run wild on our public rights of way.
>
> If that sounds like a bad idea, it is. There are several reasons this move would be deeply damaging for towns and 
> cities, big and small:
>
> Federal control of local streets isn’t going to bring more or better wireless service to Americans.
>
> The industry and the FCC have argued that allowing wireless companies to put up equipment anywhere they please will 
> encourage broadband deployment to underserved areas. Looking at recent history, there is no reason to believe that 
> they actually will.
>
> Driven by their profit motive, big wireless companies are going to go where the money is — to the rich commercial 
> districts and dense residential areas in urban cores, upgrading the network already in place there and charging the 
> highest rates they can get. They will not be racing to serve traditionally underserved areas at affordable rates — be 
> they rural or urban — where the prospect of profit doesn’t look as good. This could result in the kind of “digital 
> redlining” AT&T stands accused of doing in cities like Cleveland and Detroit.
>
> We see this play out in NYC, where poles are priced as low as $12 per month in underserved areas yet there are very 
> few providers looking to install in those communities. Our colleagues in rural areas tell us they haven’t been able 
> to attract companies even when offering poles at NO cost.
>
> Lack of local control over public streets could endanger everyone’s safety.
>
> Without local control, multiple companies could pile many different installations on a single light pole. Imagine a 
> mass of new equipment on a single structure, ruining streetscapes and potentially interfering with first responder, 
> electric utility and other critical equipment. Then imagine what might happen during a hurricane or an act of 
> terrorism when public safety systems or traffic control or cell service is damaged. Do we really want that kind of 
> confusion and delay when confronting the worst?
>
> Federal control will stifle smart city innovation.
>
> LinkNYC is New York City’s free superfast wi-fi network — the largest, fastest municipal network in the world. It’s a 
> pioneering effort that other cities across the globe are modeling their own projects after — exactly the kind of 
> innovation Chairman Pai claims is good for the country. It never would have happened without the local authority to 
> innovate, experiment, and deploy on our public rights of way.
>
> The FCC is threatening to take control without the necessary legal authority.
>
> The move the FCC is contemplating on Wednesday is, bluntly, an illegal overstep of their authority. Congress has 
> clearly assured cities control of local rights-of-way for wireless equipment. The courts have upheld this, and if the 
> FCC proceeds otherwise, all Americans stand to gain are lawsuits and confusion, not enhanced wireless service.
>
> Make no mistake: the FCC is threatening the public’s right to control public property, and dozens of cities, states, 
> and towns from New York City to Lincoln, Nebraska to Anchorage, Alaska are ready to defend that right on behalf of 
> our residents and taxpayers.
>
> Our message is clear. Mr. Chairman: it’s time to start over, working in honest collaboration with cities to determine 
> a path forward that puts people first. We see your Commission’s strategy as part and parcel of a larger, systemic 
> attack towards municipalities aimed at “getting local government out of the way.” Local governments already 
> aggressively work with industry to creatively, quickly, and safely develop and enhance communications infrastructure 
> in our communities. And Americans should have the same rights to their public property that they do to their private 
> property: the right to a fair compensation for its use, and control over how it’s used, how it looks, and how safe it 
> is.
>
> Locals know their own streets best. Let us lead the way.
>
>
>
> Let the FCC know what you think by filing a comment here: 
> https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-84&sort=date_disseminated,DESC & 
> https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?proceedings_name=17-79&sort=date_disseminated,DESC


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